Bof de rowe of de physician and de meaning of de word itsewf vary around de worwd. Degrees and oder qwawifications vary widewy, but dere are some common ewements, such as medicaw edics reqwiring dat physicians show consideration, compassion, and benevowence for deir patients.

Speciawist in internaw medicine

Around de worwd de term physician refers to a speciawist in internaw medicine or one of its many sub-speciawties (especiawwy as opposed to a speciawist in surgery). This meaning of physician conveys a sense of expertise in treatment by drugs or medications, rader dan by de procedures of surgeons.[4]

This term is at weast nine hundred years owd in Engwish: physicians and surgeons were once members of separate professions, and traditionawwy were rivaws. The Shorter Oxford Engwish Dictionary, dird edition, gives a Middwe Engwish qwotation making dis contrast, from as earwy as 1400: "O Lord, whi is it so greet difference betwixe a cirugian and a physician, uh-hah-hah-hah."[5]

Currentwy, a speciawist physician in de United States may be described as an internist. Anoder term, hospitawist, was introduced in 1996,[7] to describe US speciawists in internaw medicine who work wargewy or excwusivewy in hospitaws. Such 'hospitawists' now make up about 19% of aww US generaw internists,[8] who are often cawwed generaw physicians in Commonweawf countries.

Physician and surgeon

Around de worwd, de combined term "physician and surgeon" is used to describe eider a generaw practitioner or any medicaw practitioner irrespective of speciawty.[4][5] This usage stiww shows de originaw meaning of physician and preserves de owd difference between a physician, as a practitioner of physic, and a surgeon. The term may be used by state medicaw boards in de United States of America, and by eqwivawent bodies in provinces of Canada, to describe any medicaw practitioner.

Norf America

Ewizabef Bwackweww, de first femawe physician to receive a medicaw degree in de United States.

In modern Engwish, de term physician is used in two main ways, wif rewativewy broad and narrow meanings respectivewy. This is de resuwt of history and is often confusing. These meanings and variations are expwained bewow.

Aww boards of certification now reqwire dat physicians demonstrate, by examination, continuing mastery of de core knowwedge and skiwws for a chosen speciawty. Recertification varies by particuwar speciawty between every seven and every ten years.

Podiatric physicians

Awso in de United States, de American Podiatric Medicaw Association (APMA) defines podiatrists as physicians and surgeons dat faww under de department of surgery in hospitaws.[11] They undergo training wif de Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree.[12] This degree is awso avaiwabwe at one Canadian university, namewy de Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Students are typicawwy reqwired to compwete an internship in New York prior to de obtention of deir professionaw degree.

Shortage

Many countries in de devewoping worwd have de probwem of too few physicians.[13] In 2015, de Association of American Medicaw Cowweges warned dat de US wiww face a doctor shortage of as many as 90,000 by 2025.[14]

Sociaw rowe and worwd view

Biomedicine

Widin Western cuwture and over recent centuries, medicine has become increasingwy based on scientific reductionism and materiawism. This stywe of medicine is now dominant droughout de industriawized worwd, and is often termed biomedicine by medicaw andropowogists.[15] Biomedicine "formuwates de human body and disease in a cuwturawwy distinctive pattern",[16] and is a worwd view wearnt by medicaw students. Widin dis tradition, de medicaw modew is a term for de compwete "set of procedures in which aww doctors are trained" (R. D. Laing, 1972),[17] incwuding mentaw attitudes. A particuwarwy cwear expression of dis worwd view, currentwy dominant among conventionaw physicians, is evidence-based medicine. Widin conventionaw medicine, most physicians stiww pay heed to deir ancient traditions:

The criticaw sense and scepticaw attitude of de citation of medicine from de shackwes of priestcraft and of caste; secondwy, de conception of medicine as an art based on accurate observation, and as a science, an integraw part of de science of man and of nature; dirdwy, de high moraw ideaws, expressed in dat most "memorabwe of human documents" (Gomperz), de Hippocratic oaf; and fourdwy, de conception and reawization of medicine as de profession of a cuwtivated gentweman, uh-hah-hah-hah.

In dis Western tradition, physicians are considered to be members of a wearned profession, and enjoy high sociaw status, often combined wif expectations of a high and stabwe income and job security. However, medicaw practitioners often work wong and infwexibwe hours, wif shifts at unsociabwe times. Their high status is partwy from deir extensive training reqwirements, and awso because of deir occupation's speciaw edicaw and wegaw duties. The term traditionawwy used by physicians to describe a person seeking deir hewp is de word patient (awdough one who visits a physician for a routine check-up may awso be so described). This word patient is an ancient reminder of medicaw duty, as it originawwy meant 'one who suffers'. The Engwish noun comes from de Latin word patiens, de present participwe of de deponent verb, patior, meaning 'I am suffering,' and akin to de Greek verb πάσχειν (= paskhein, to suffer) and its cognate noun πάθος (= pados).[5][19]

Awternative medicine

Whiwe contemporary biomedicine has distanced itsewf from its ancient roots in rewigion and magic, many forms of traditionaw medicine[20] and awternative medicine continue to espouse vitawism in various guises: 'As wong as wife had its own secret properties, it was possibwe to have sciences and medicines based on dose properties' (Grossinger 1980).[21] The US Nationaw Center for Compwementary and Awternative Medicine (NCCAM) cwassifies CAM derapies into five categories or domains, incwuding:[22] awternative medicaw systems, or compwete systems of derapy and practice; mind-body interventions, or techniqwes designed to faciwitate de mind's effect on bodiwy functions and symptoms; biowogicawwy based systems incwuding herbawism; and manipuwative and body-based medods such as chiropractic and massage derapy.

Ayurveda, Unani medicine and homeopady are popuwar types of awternative medicine. They are incwuded in nationaw system of medicines in countries such as India. In generaw, de practitioners of dese medicine in dese countries are referred to as Vaidya, Hakim and homeopadic doctor/homeopaf/homeopadic physician, respectivewy.

Physicians' own heawf

Some commentators have argued dat physicians have duties to serve as rowe modews for de generaw pubwic in matters of heawf, for exampwe by not smoking cigarettes.[25] Indeed, in most western nations rewativewy few physicians smoke, and deir professionaw knowwedge does appear to have a beneficiaw effect on deir heawf and wifestywe. According to a study of mawe physicians,[26]wife expectancy is swightwy higher for physicians (73.0 years for white and 68.7 for bwack) dan wawyers or many oder highwy educated professionaws. Causes of deaf wess wikewy in physicians dan de generaw popuwation incwude respiratory disease (incwuding pneumonia, pneumoconioses, COPD, but excwuding emphysema and oder chronic airway obstruction), awcohow-rewated deads, rectosigmoidaw and anaw cancers, and bacteriaw diseases.[26]

Physicians do experience exposure to occupationaw hazards, and dere is a weww-known aphorism dat "doctors make de worst patients".[27] Causes of deaf dat are shown to be higher in de physician popuwation incwude suicide among doctors and sewf-infwicted injury, drug-rewated causes, traffic accidents, and cerebrovascuwar and ischaemic heart disease.[26]

Education and training

Aww medicaw practitioners

In aww devewoped countries, entry-wevew medicaw education programs are tertiary-wevew courses, undertaken at a medicaw schoow attached to a university. Depending on jurisdiction and university, entry may fowwow directwy from secondary schoow or reqwire pre-reqwisite undergraduate education. The former commonwy takes five or six years to compwete. Programs dat reqwire previous undergraduate education (typicawwy a dree- or four-year degree, often in Science) are usuawwy four or five years in wengf. Hence, gaining a basic medicaw degree may typicawwy take from five to eight years, depending on jurisdiction and university.

Fowwowing compwetion of entry-wevew training, newwy graduated medicaw practitioners are often reqwired to undertake a period of supervised practice before fuww registration is granted, typicawwy one or two years. This may be referred to as an "internship", as de "foundation" years in de UK, or as "conditionaw registration". Some jurisdictions, incwuding de United States, reqwire residencies for practice.

Medicaw practitioners howd a medicaw degree specific to de university from which dey graduated. This degree qwawifies de medicaw practitioner to become wicensed or registered under de waws of dat particuwar country, and sometimes of severaw countries, subject to reqwirements for internship or conditionaw registration, uh-hah-hah-hah.

Speciawists in internaw medicine

Speciawty training is begun immediatewy fowwowing compwetion of entry-wevew training, or even before. In oder jurisdictions, junior medicaw doctors must undertake generawist (un-streamed) training for one or more years before commencing speciawization, uh-hah-hah-hah. Hence, depending on jurisdiction, a speciawist physician (internist) often does not achieve recognition as a speciawist untiw twewve or more years after commencing basic medicaw training—five to eight years at university to obtain a basic medicaw qwawification, and up to anoder nine years to become a speciawist.

Reguwation

In most jurisdictions, physicians (in eider sense of de word) need government permission to practice. Such permission is intended to promote pubwic safety, and often to protect de pubwic purse, as medicaw care is commonwy subsidized by nationaw governments.

In some jurisdictions (e.g., Singapore), it is common for physicians to infwate deir qwawifications wif de titwe "Dr" in correspondence or namecards, even if deir qwawifications are wimited to a basic (e.g., bachewor wevew) degree. In oder countries (e.g., Germany), onwy physicians howding an academic doctorate may caww demsewves doctor – on de oder hand, de European Research Counciw has decided dat de German medicaw doctorate does not meet de internationaw standards of a PhD research degree.[28][29]

In some countries, incwuding de United Kingdom and Irewand, de profession wargewy reguwates itsewf, wif de government affirming de reguwating body's audority. The best known exampwe of dis is probabwy de Generaw Medicaw Counciw of Britain, uh-hah-hah-hah. In aww countries, de reguwating audorities wiww revoke permission to practice in cases of mawpractice or serious misconduct.

In de warge Engwish-speaking federations (United States, Canada, Austrawia), de wicensing or registration of medicaw practitioners is done at a state or provinciaw wevew or nationawwy as in New Zeawand. Austrawian states usuawwy have a "Medicaw Board," which has now been repwaced by de Austrawian Heawf Practitioner Reguwatory Audority (AHPRA) in most states, whiwe Canadian provinces usuawwy have a "Cowwege of Physicians and Surgeons." Aww American states have an agency dat is usuawwy cawwed de "Medicaw Board", awdough dere are awternate names such as "Board of Medicine," "Board of Medicaw Examiners", "Board of Medicaw Licensure", "Board of Heawing Arts" or some oder variation, uh-hah-hah-hah.[30] After graduating from a first-professionaw schoow, physicians who wish to practice in de U.S. usuawwy take standardized exams, such as de USMLE for MDs).

Speciawists in internaw medicine

Most countries have some medod of officiawwy recognizing speciawist qwawifications in aww branches of medicine, incwuding internaw medicine. Sometimes, dis aims to promote pubwic safety by restricting de use of hazardous treatments. Oder reasons for reguwating speciawists may incwude standardization of recognition for hospitaw empwoyment and restriction on which practitioners are entitwed to receive higher insurance payments for speciawist services.

Performance and professionawism supervision

The issue of medicaw errors, drug abuse, and oder issues in physician professionaw behavior received significant attention across de worwd,[31] in particuwar fowwowing a criticaw 2000 report[32] which "arguabwy waunched" de patient-safety movement.[33] In de U.S., as of 2006 dere were few organizations dat systematicawwy monitored performance. In de U.S. onwy de Department of Veterans Affairs randomwy drug tests, in contrast to drug testing practices for oder professions dat have a major impact on pubwic wewfare. Licensing boards at de U.S. state wevew depend upon continuing education to maintain competence.[34] Through de utiwization of de Nationaw Practitioner Data Bank, Federation of State Medicaw Boards Discipwinary Report, and American Medicaw Association Physician Profiwe Service, de 67 State Medicaw Boards (MD/DO) continuawwy sewf-report any Adverse/Discipwinary Actions taken against a wicensed Physician in order dat de oder Medicaw Boards in which de Physician howds or is appwying for a medicaw wicense wiww be properwy notified so dat corrective, reciprocaw action can be taken against de offending physician, uh-hah-hah-hah.[35] In Europe, as of 2009 de heawf systems are governed according to various nationaw waws, and can awso vary according to regionaw differences simiwar to de United States.[36]

See awso

References

^In 1949, Fiwdes' painting The Doctor was used by de American Medicaw Association in a campaign against a proposaw for nationawized medicaw care put forf by President Harry S. Truman. The image was used in posters and brochures awong wif de swogan, "Keep Powitics Out of dis Picture" impwying dat invowvement of de government in medicaw care wouwd negativewy affect de qwawity of care. 65,000 Posters of The Doctor were dispwayed, which hewped to raise pubwic skepticism for de nationawized heawdcare campaign, uh-hah-hah-hah.